confectionery Supp 2011Qx_Layout 1 - Speciality Food Magazine

Confectionery 

www.specialityfoodmagazine.co.uk 

FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF 

2011

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Welcome 

With UK confectionery 

sales expected to reach a 

value of £4.1 billion by 

2015 – the industry is the 

most buoyant it has ever 

been. The profitability in this market is 

largely owning to the sheer variety now 

found in the sector, and this has 

inspired us to focus on several new 

feature ideas this year. 

On page 28 we take a look at the 

growing popularity of Indian sweets, 

and how they can be best promoted 

during festivities. There has also been 

a rising interest in nostalgia sweets 

(page eight) and gourmet fudge (page 

11). If you are not keen on following 

trends and prefer to read our specialist 

retail advice pieces, turn to pages 14- 

15 for more information. 

Louise Miles, Editor 

CONTENTS 

4 Bars of Gold 

Sarah Jane Evans discusses the rise of the 

speciality chocolate bar 

8 A Different Class 

A round-up of the country’s sweetest shops 

11 New Tricks 

Natasha Lovell-Smith discovers innovation in 

the fudge sector 

12 A Taste of Fun 

A look at popular funfair sweets including 

candy floss, brandy snaps and popcorn 

14 Capitalising on Confectionery 

Helen Pattinson reveals her top retail tips 

16 What’s Sweet in the Market? 

Paul Hargreaves takes at a look at the year’s 

confectionery trends 

17 Refashioning Flavour 

Toffee is more than an old-fashioned treat 

18 Talk of the Trade 

What retailers are recalling as their bestselling 

lines 

20 Paying a Fair Price 

How Fairtrade chocolate is creating a 

presence in the market 

22 Meet the Buyer 

Paul A. Young talks retail at his new 

Soho shop 

24 Going Against The Grain 

Shelley Preston discusses how female 

chocolatiers are making a mark 

28 Eastern Delights 

Louise Miles investigates Indian sweets 

30 Sweetness and Light 

The role of Stevia in the confectionery industry 

Innovations, new products, 

and creative sales concepts 

– the confectionery industry 

is an commercial enterprise 

that continues to develop at a fast 

rate. For many, chocolate is the 

epitome of culinary pleasure and 

luxury, however it holds specially 

great potential for creativity. 

Examples of these exciting trends 

have been made been evident 

both at home and aboard. 

In the European market, the 

most recent International 

Sweets and Biscuits Fair (ISM ) 

held in Cologne demonstrated 

that the trend for single origin 

chocolates – chocolate with a 

designated origin – is holding 

up. Filled chocolates are 

undergoing a renaissance, 

especially in combinations with 

fruits, nuts or almonds. But, the 

most radical idea to impress 

visitors was the sweet olives in 

white chocolate. It seems these 

daring moves in the industry are 

sometimes controversial, but 

always intriguing. 

Interesting flavours 

At the Speciality & Fine Food Fair 

2011, a similar feeling of 

excitement was stirring in the 

Chocolate Fair aisles. Several new 

creations were being showcased 

including Amelia Rope Chocolate 

will its new chocolate bar range, 

including Dark Mandarin, Dark 

Lemon and Dark Ginger flavours. 

The Gourmet Chocolate Pizza 

Co. was highlighting its solid 

Belgian chocolate pizzas which 

toppings ranging from toffee and 

pecan nuts to marshmallows, 

and a new strawberry and 

champagne pizza. 

introduction 

Creative 

Confections 

Innovation in the sweets industry 

has meant that creations such as 

wasabi infused chocolates are now 

possible. With new flavours 

emerging all the time, what’s next? 

HF Chocolates also exhibited 

at the show and the director of the 

company, Thelma Benke, believes 

more customers are going for freefrom 

confectionery. “There is a lot 

of interest in the quality of 

ingredients in particular ‘free from’ 

information e.g. gluten, sugar, azo 

dyes. This is true of both 

chocolates and sweets where the 

trend is towards natural colours 

and flavours. Colourful, distinctive, 

original, sometimes witty 

packaging is also important to 

entice the customer.” 

According to the team at the 

House of Dorchester consumer 

interest in chocolate has never 

been more promient. Hence, why 

the company has created a 

‘Chocolate Larder’ collection this 

year. Comprised of biscuits, 

flapjacks and Tiffin, to rich hot 

chocolate and chocolate stir-in 

spoons – the Larder is offering 

bang-on trends. “Each recipe we 

have created for our new range 

has been under extreme scrutiny 

from the whole team, to make 

sure that they had at their heart 

everything that is important to 

House of Dorchester – delicious 

recipes, expertly sourced 

ingredients and real skill in their 

creation. Biscuits, flapjacks and 

chocolate stir-in spoons are really 

just the start – there are lots more 

ideas in our new Larder!” 

comments Jeremy Moore from 

House of Dorchester. 

So, with the industry being at 

its most vibrant, now is the time 

for retailers and consumers to 

discover the latest confections. 

Over the next 32 pages, you will 

find a round-up of the most 

notable trends currently hitting the 

industry and also some sound 

retail advice to help push your 

business further. 

Confectionery 

Editor 

Designer 

Louise Miles 01206 505971 

Tom Sanderson 

louise.miles@aceville.co.uk 

Adsetting 

Features Writers 

Kevin Dennis 

Natasha Lovell-Smith 01206 508623 

Design/Repro/Typesetting 

natasha@aceville.co.uk 

Ace Pre-Press 

Group Advertising Manager 

19 Phoenix Court, Hawkins Road, 

Sam Reubin 01206 505936 

Colchester, Essex, CO2 8JY 

sam.reubin@aceville.co.uk 

Publisher 

Advertising Executives 

Helen Tudor 01206 505970 

Michelle Marples 01206 505934 

Published by: 

michelle.marples@aceville.co.uk 

Aceville Publications Ltd, 

Tim Wilby 01206 505240 

21-23 Phoenix Court, 

tim.wilby@aceville.co.uk 

Hawkins Road, 

Accounts 

Colchester, Essex, CO2 8JY 

Sue Carr 01206 505901 

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Every effort is made 

to ensure the veracity and integrity of the companies, persons, products and services mentioned in this publication, and details 

given are believed to be accurate at the time of going to press. However no responsibility or liability whatsoever can be 

accepted for any consequence or repercussion of responding to any information or advice given or inferred. 

www.specialityfoodmagazine.co.uk 3

chocolate bars 

Bars 

Gold 

of 

With chocolate now featuring in every 

shape possible – the industry is 

constantly evolving. Expert Sarah Jane 

Evans wants, however, to sell the 

merits of the speciality chocolate bar 

Where did the Milk 

Tray man go? You 

remember: the one 

in the black polo 

neck who performed daring deeds 

to deliver the box of milk 

chocolates to the demanding lady. 

Well, he kept up acrobatics until 

2003, but then – after 25 years 

–was consigned to the advertising 

dustbin. Just in time, for the 

chocolate world was changing 

radically. By 2003 the choosy 

woman much preferred Belgian 

chocolates. Fast forward to 2011 

and the demanding girlfriend is 

now selecting her own chocolates, 

and what she is wanting to choose 

is a bar. 

The great thing about the 

resurgence of the bar is that while 

bars are beloved by chocolate fans 

they are also tailor-made for delis and 

fine food retailers. Let’s look at the 

advantages, compared to the 

average box of chocs: portability, 

affordability, packaging, durability and 

flavour. It’s worth noting now that we 

are talking about fine chocolate bars, 

but more of that later. 

First, portability. Made for 

handbags and pockets, the 

humble bar is an easy buy and is 

perfect for quick, easy display. 

They do not need skilled sales 

people – the packaging does its 

own sales patter. There is none of 

the time-wasting hand selection of 

chocolates and then filling boxes. 

An artisan bar, handfoiled and 

packed, needs no finishing 

touches. These bars aren’t cheap, 

of course, with some of them rising 

£6 for 70g. However they are 

cheaper than a box of truffles, and 

many are definitely cheap enough 

to be bought on impulse. What’s 

more they can be picked up as a 

private treat, whereas a box of filled 

chocolates is never a private treat – 

it demands an occasion which 

limits its range. So put them by the 

till on a rainy day, or when the 

national mood is gloomy. 

Impact packaging 

The packaging is all part of the 

sales pitch, giving a little glamour to 

a shopping basket. Åkesson from 

Sweden has a faintly intellectual air 

with its black card boxes. Valrhona 

have always added class to a 

display, while relatively newcomer 

Amelia Rope’s brown paper 

4 www.specialityfoodmagazine.co.uk

wrapper is far more discreet. Look 

out for the new range of flavoured 

bars from Willie’s Delectable 

Cacao. They are boxed in vibrant 

colours with plenty of attitude, 

much like the wrappers of the 

Grenada Chocolate Company. 

Chococo’s bars are also bursting 

with personality. Now that standard 

confectionery lines are flow 

wrapped, there is something 

deliciously ritualistic about 

unwrapping a bar that has been 

carefully wrapped in foil and paper. 

DeirdreMcCanny CoCouture in 

Belfast has got this to a fine art. A 

chocolate bar does not have to be 

a solitary treat, or the walker’s 

revival on a wet and windy day. A 

bar or two make a great gift for 

friends, an affordable luxury perfect 

to pass round with coffee. 

Customers coming to fine 

chocolate for the first time may not 

be aware that filled chocolates 

have short shelf lives, and need to 

be looked after. Chocolate in 

general is vulnerable to strong 

aromas – from cheese to coffee – 

and a fine cream ganache is a 

“The great thing about the 

resurgence of the bar is that 

while bars are beloved by 

chocolate fans they are also 

tailor-made for delis” 

particularly fragile indulgence. 

That’s where the bar comes in. 

Some producers mark their bars 

as viable for just two months, but 

the majority are shown to have a 

lifetime of a year, although it is 

undoubtedly true that the fresher 

the bar the better. 

Certainly bar aficionados are 

not deprived of flavour. As I 

discovered in the tastings for my 

guide to the world’s top producrs, 

Chocolate Unwrapped, bars from 

single origins can have flavours as 

diverse as red wine, 

citrus fruits, 

roasted walnuts, leather and tar. 

The flavours released depend on 

the quality and style of the many 

different approaches to finishing 

the bean. It’s not enough to 

ferment, dry and roast it. The 

conching time makes a distinct 

difference. For the curious, and the 

student of fine chocolate, two 

producers – Hotel Chocolat in its 

Purist range – and the Austrian 

Zotter in its Labooko collection – 

produce bars with different 

conching times for contrast. 


Flavour does not just come 

from the origin or the blend. 

Currently trending in twitter 

language, is lime (as in Willie’s 

Delectable Cacao new Sierra Leone 

bar with Ginger and Lime, and 

Amelia Rope’s Pale Lime and Sea 

Salt). Lime is what gives that bar the 

edge, while sea salt has become 

recently quite mainstream. Rococo 

were one of the early popularisers, 

and Duffy Sheardown has taken it a 

step further with his cocoa nib and 

oak-smoked sea salt milk chocolate 

bar, the sea salt is very subtle, the 

oak even more so. 



In the search for novelty new 

producers Kokoh is using 

Himalayan Pink salt, while they 

also have a wattle seed bar. All of 

these choices are certainly more 

subtle than chilli. While chilli is still 

popular with consumers, for many 

chocolatiers it is much too 

dominant and they have moved on 

to sweeter, subtler spices and 

flavourings. Åkesson for instance 

is using the Madagascan 

Voatsiperifery pepper, which has a 

warm undertone with none of 

chilli’s bite. 

Simply changing the milk in a 

milk bar makes a difference – 

Laverstoke Park interestingly has a 

creamy buffalo milk bar made 

successfully by Artisan du 

Chocolat, who also have an 

almond milk bar. For imagination 

Zotter is undoubtedly the leader 

with its creative flavouring and 

fillings, even though not all of them 

hit the spot. For sheer elegance in 

flavour Valrhona is hard to beat, 

especially with its classic Manjari 

Orange and its Guanaja Grue, 

made with cocoa nibs. 

There is more than enough in 

the world of bars to excite and 

entice. There are also enough 

artisan producers around to give 

delicatessens a certain sense of 

exclusivity against other delis and 

the mainstream. It is, however, 

important to stress that the focus 

is on fine chocolate. Thus there is 

no vegetable fat other than 

cocoa butter, no artificial flavour 

such as vanillin, and there is no 

use of sweeteners such as 

sorbitol and maltitol. 

When discovering new 

chocolatiers, retailers should visit 

the companies’ websites, see what 

the producers have to say about 

their ethics and approach to trade. 

Ask producers whether they make 

their bars from the bean (only a very 

small number do), or whether they 

use couverture. A reliable producer 

should be willing to tell you whose 

couverture they use. Finally, be sure 

to stock chocolate bars that you 

like, not just the ones that look 

good or make specific claims. 

Keep tasting too; standards do vary 

over time owing to vintage changes 

and production demands. The 

good thing is that checking the 

chocolate is one quality control task 

that should always be a pleasure. 

Sarah Jane Evans is a master 

of wine, and author of 

Chocolate Unwrapped: Taste 

and Enjoy the World’s Finest 

Chocolate (Anova Books). 

WHAT’S HOT IN CHOC? 

Drinking chocolate, sipping chocolate, grated 

chocolate for blending in warm milk — whatever 

it’s called, it’s not our grandmother’s cocoa 

anymore. Sarah Jane Evans comments on hot 

chocolate trends 

One of the latest pieces of home kitchen equipment to hit the 

craving list is a ‘home hot chocolate dispenser’. These handy 

little machines bring home the authentic café experience of 

drinking chocolate by heating, whipping and blending milk and 

chocolate into a frothy, easily dispensed hot beverage. 

And, one of the more hotly contested categories in the 

Academy of Chocolate Awards is for drinking chocolate. This 

year the stars were undoubtedly the flavoured chocolates with 

three winning Gold: Paul A Young for his spicy Aztec, Jaz & 

Jul’s for their Caramel and Lime, and the category winner the 

US west coast producer Theo for the Chipotle. The message 

was: when spiced hot chocolate is well done, it’s better than 

the standard unflavoured variety. Delis can have the edge when 

it comes to selling these more out of the way flavours. Those 

who also have cafés have a real opportunity for diversification 

once autumn starts drawing in. 

For the point about chocolate is that it’s a ritual, a sensuous 

treat. In a recent survey among friends, fans quickly came up 

with their favourite recipes, from ‘I used to throw Aero mint 

bubbles in mine back in the uni days’ to ‘Two tablespoons of 

Nutella with hot frothy milk and two marshmallows’, and ‘the 

rich, thick, dark hot chocolate that you can nearly stand a 

spoon up in, that you get in Spain and Italy’. Their enthusiasm 

is patent. Interestingly each one of them mentions a garnish. 

Spain may serve churros, but it is worth thinking about offering 

a ginger spiced chocolate drink with a stem ginger biscuit, for 

instance, to add to the glamour, or a handful of chocolate 

couverture buttons for sprinkling over the top of the drink and 

stirring in as they melt. 

Patissier chocolatier, William Curley, makes a fine ritual in 

his London shops, offering a little plate and a small measure of 

unctuous chocolate in a small beaker. A small cup is all that is 

required when the chocolate is so rich. For more entertainment 

Zotter sells an entire hot chocolate set: each customer gets a 

little tray, with a small hand whisk, a double walled mug for the 

milk, and an individual bar for melting. It is definitely time to 

abandon the sachets of instant chocolate, and explore a world 

as interesting as fine leaf tea. 



itish sweet shops 

A 

Different 

Class 

Business is booming for those retail 

outlets which have stamped their USP 

into the public consciousness. We tour 

the nation’s most iconic shops 

The Cult Favourite 

With several shops plus 

a busy website, 

CyberCandy is meeting 

the current demand for 

cult sweets 

It’s 12 years since Margaret 

Morrison and husband Allan 

Goocher decided to enter retail 

with CyberCandy – back then a 

no-frills website that supplied eyepoppingly 

bright imports to a small 

band of fans. They had little clue 

that the store’s niche range of 

confectionery would prove so 

popular. “It was just a sideline at 

first and we kept our day jobs,” 

explains Ms Morrison, “but it really 

took off online. Through that we 

built up a clear idea of the ranges 

that worked for us. Our first bricks 

and mortar shop was a theatre of 

products, just a neutral canvas to 

showcase the amazing graphics 

and branding on the packaging.” 

Amongst the exotic imports 

from Japan, Australia and beyond, 

CyberCandy has a great selection 

of retro classics that appeal to 

nostalgic shoppers prepared to 

spend serious cash on the novelty 

products from their past. “We 

make a lot of effort to get the 

things that have disappeared: 

Lucky Charms cereal, Nestle 

Pretzel Flips, Nerds...So often big 

brands dip a toe in the UK and 

then withdraw from the market, 

creating a niche following of 

customers who miss it. We can 

bring back the memory for those 

customers, and transport them 

back in time.” 

CyberCandy caters for a 

specific client base: customers that 

have enough disposable income to 

justify spending out on imported 

goods priced at a hefty premium. 

“Children like our ranges but on the 

whole the prices are too much for 

them; they have to budget carefully 

or have choice anxiety. Our real 

core customer base is young 

adults and students – anyone into 

graphic design or who likes 

unusual things. A lot of our biggest 

fans are bordering on collectors – 

they enjoy looking for cute things 

they can save, or seasonal 

versions.” 

The stores attract an even split 

of male and female customers, 

most within the age band 16 and 

“Our biggest fans 

are bordering on 

collectors – they 

look out for cute 

things they can save” 

35. And, for these customers, the 

air of mystery and novelty attracted 

to the imports is a big part of the 

attraction. Nostalgic shopping is 

also big, though it’s not about the 

Victorian-style boiled sweets that 

have proved so popular for many 

retailers. Instead CyberCandy 

invokes affection for a very specific 

era. “For us it’s not about sweets in 

jars but Wham bars and other 

favourites from the 70s. We do a 

great trade in the kind of things 

people used to get in Woolworths: 

Black Jacks, Sherbet Dip Dabs 

and Fruit Salads.” 

The customers’ amazing 

dedication for familiar products 

even extends to rebrands, when 

units bearing the old packaging 

suddenly gain retro appeal. 

“Mountain Dew relaunched its cans 

with a new, ‘modern’ design but it 

just doesn’t seem to have the 

same appeal for customers,” 

explains Ms Morrison. “So we see 

really buoyant sales of original 

designs. We also make sure we 

stock every conceivable variation: 

guest flavours, limited editions, and 

imports from Japan which come in 

extra large sizes.” 

With four stores and another 

planned, the future looks rosy for 

the brand. “Location is something 

we’re feeling our way on,” says Ms 

Morrison. “Covent Garden is a 

great location because it gets 

tourists and show-goers. Our 

Brighton store is in North Laine 

where there’s hardly a high-street 

chain, which is nice. We like to be 

where the indies are so we don’t 

do malls. Location is important but 

people discover us wherever we 

are, and see a great window 

display. Our website is due for an 

overhaul, and it means customers 

all over Britain can reach those 

who don’t have local access. We 

also do specialist shows themed 

around sci-fi or manga [Japanese 

animation]. They tend to attract the 

right crowd for us. There are 

massive levels of enthusiasm. 

People are always fighting over 

where we can open the next store 

– they want us to bring one to their 

town!” comments Ms Morrison. 


The Retro Retreat 

Rose-tinted nostalgia 

reigns supreme at Hope 

& Greenwood, which 

has stores in Covent 

Garden and Dulwich 

The Enid Blyton aesthetic to be 

soaked up in Hope & Greenwood’s 

two stores is a real thrill for 

nostalgia fans, with the brand’s 

exclusive selection of sweeties 

offering an authentic taste of the 

past. “We see a trend in products 

and sweets that are warm and 

comforting, given this economic 

climate, and for things that hark 

back to our childhoods,” says cofounder 

Kitty Hope. “I’m 

responsible for all our packaging 

and it’s 100% based on my Auntie 

Mary’s pantry. She had a great oldfashioned 

larder with cold-store 

shelving – as a child I was utterly 

fascinated by it. Now my ethos is if 

a product doesn’t look like it could 

be found in her larder, it doesn’t 

have a place at Hope and 

Greenwood. And we don’t repast 

the same lines in multiple colours – 

there’s a higgledy piggledy 

randomness that forms a range 

that still has curiosity.” 

Miss Hope’s background in 

design, combined with her 

husband’s (Mr Greenwood) love of 

antiques, gave to birth to an 

aesthetic that’s hit a chord with the 

buying public. “The whole look and 

feel is as if the shop has evolved 

from 1890 to 1960.” But is this 

look just an attempt to hook into 

the zeitgeist? “No, it’s a hearty 

ethos,” insists Miss Hope. “There 

are a few retailers who have a look 

close to ours but the difference is 

the quality of our products is top 

notch. We always knew we had to 

deliver the whole package. It’s like 

buying a beautiful pair of pants: 

once you get through the great 

wrapping, layers of tissue paper 

and gold stickers, you still need 

to have something inside that 

meets expectations. So it’s 

about delivering the fulfilment 

at every level so customers are 

never disappointed.” 

If attention to the quality of the 

products has proven crucial, it has 

also brought its own set of 

problems. “Our rhubarb and 

custards are only made for us, and 

we’re about to launch Foaming 

Blue Cherries that expand in your 

mouth. We also do Fizz! Bang! 

Wallops!; Honey Toffee; and 

Peanut Butter Fudge. The cost of 

raw materials is going up, and 

we’re absorbing that increase 

rather than passing it on. We 

intend to maintain those prices but 

retail is tough at the moment. 

Please God let it change back.” 

Manufacturing its own lines 

in an era of rampant food inflation 

has created some serious 

headaches for Hope & 

Greenwood. 

“It’s a slap in the face when a 

supplier puts prices up and give 24 

hours notice. That pisses me off. 

They know the increases are 

coming so they could give more 

warning. Sometimes you can’t 

accommodate it quickly enough. 

But then people out there are 

seriously suffering and we’re lucky. 

Our price point isn’t much higher 

than other stores. People says it’s 

a posh sweet shop but we’re not 

keen to undercut everyone in the 

area. Confectionery has a 

perceived price point so we stay in 

british sweet shops 

the commercial world.” 

And could this strong business 

instinct compromise the shop’s 

current look if the public appetite 

for a retro British look wanes? “We 

were British before it was cool to 

be – when we opened the first 

shop I said to Mr Greenwood 

‘Dare I put Union Jack bunting 

up?’ He thought we’d get a brick 

through the window. We were very 

early pioneers but we’re in it for the 

long haul. I’m not taking my Union 

Jack down for anyone!” 

she concludes. 


itish sweet shops 

Rest of the Best 

The Tourist’s 

1Treasure 

Dedication to a few 

traditional lines has put 

Gordon & Durward in 

Crieff into a league 

of its own 

Like all the best foodie 

destinations, this shop-comesweetie-factory 

has plenty of ownrecipe 

goodies that claim to be the 

best. The company’s traditional 

copper boilers bubble with the 

natural ingredients required for 

tablet – the hard, granular fudge 

peculiar to Scotland that has 

sweetie-lovers of all generations 

hooked. Meanwhile a busy team 

mixes up coconut ice, macaroons 

and the shop’s famous sugar 

mice – of which 3,000 are made 

each week! 

The Palace to 

2Pleasure 

Inspired use of iconic 

branding puts 

Charbonnel et Walker 

ahead of the local 

competition 

If there’s any confectionery 

packaging more rich with romantic 

promise than the gold-embossed 

chocolate boxes produced by 

Charbonnel et Walker, we’d like to 

see it. The iconic, satin-ribbonwrapped 

cartons fill the curved 

glass windows in Old Bond Street’s 

Royal Arcade – a location 

guaranteed to impress the brand’s 

pedigree upon any shopper with the 

means to buy. Despite the name 

this is a thoroughly English 

company, founded in 1875 and 

carrying the Queen’s Royal Warrant. 

The Time 

3Capsule 

With two stores in 

Yorkshire’s favourite 

tourist town, Justin’s 

of Whitby is tapping 

into local history with 

huge success 

Along the cobbles of Whitby’s 

winding Church Street you’ll find 

the lavish Victorian frontage of 

Justin’s, a traditional chocolate 

shop with an army of die-hard fans 

thanks to its unusual special 

ranges. Chief among these are 

Captain Cook’s Cannonballs – 

gargantuan, chocolate-coated 

spheres of rum truffle – and 

Dracula’s Coffins, a Gothic nod to 

the town’s literary connection with 

Bram Stoker’s ghoulish count. Try 

both – the resulting sugar rush will 

fuel your explorations of this 

endearing seaside town. 

The Flamboyant 

4and Fabulous 

A dedication to its 

window displays has won 

Choccywoccydoodah a 

high media profile with 

profits to match 

Gothic sensibilities and a passion 

for high Victoriana infuse every 

design at this weird and wonderful 

palace of pleasure, which has 

become a place of pilgrimage 

for chocoholics. Here chocolate in 

all its forms is coloured every 

shade of the rainbow and 

magicked into gravity-defying 

towers and dioramas. 

5 

The Workshop 

Outlet 

Bubbling up its own 

iconic sweets, Uncle 

Joe’s Emporium offers 

a taste of the town from 

generations past 

This traditional shop’s selection of 

ye olde sweeties includes classics 

such as sarsparilla drops, 

humbugs and Pontefract cakes, 

but the real star of the show is 

Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls. Wigan’s 

iconic boiled sweet is loving made 

in huge open pans from three 

ingredients – cane sugar, cream of 

tartar and peppermint. The exact 

recipe has remained a closely 

guarded secret for generations of 

the Santus family, whose ancestor 

first established the brand in 1898. 


fudge 

New 

Tricks 

From mojito to sticky toffee 

pudding, speciality fudges are 

available in practically every 

flavour imaginable. Natasha 

Lovell-Smith explores the sector 

When it comes to sweets it doesn’t get more traditional than 

old-fashioned, handmade fudge. However, the industry is 

undergoing something of a renaissance, with new and 

exciting flavours being introduced all the time. As in many 

sectors, classic varieties like vanilla and chocolate will ultimately be your 

best sellers, but it’s definitely worth promoting quirkier, attention-grabbing 

flavours to keep your selection fresh. 

The Little Deli in North Wales has been selling homemade fudge since 

the store opened over two years ago and is renowned in the region for its 

unusual flavours. The store has also picked up a string of Great Taste 

awards, as well as numerous gongs from the Wales The True Taste 

Awards. “Making your own fudge is actually quite straightforward, it’s just 

about getting that original recipe correct,” starts Emma Baravelli, co-owner. 

“I used to work in the hospitality industry and my recipe is something that 

I’ve developed over time. The ingredients are very simple – sugar, butter 

and milk – but the actual process is difficult to perfect.” 

According to Ms Baravelli, ‘proper’ fudge can be differentiated from the 

mass-produced variety by its hard and crumbly texture and creamy flavour. 

“The other stuff is too smooth and sickly for my taste,” she says. Flavours 

on offer include salted caramel, peanut butter, barabrith and lemon with 

sour cream. “But, as with ice cream, it’s the plainer flavours that tend to 

sell the best. Out clotted cream fudge is our best seller by far, but we offer 

the quirkier flavours alongside to give people a reason to come in and see 

what’s going on,” she adds. 

In contrast, Middlesbrough-based Fudge Fancies produces ubercontemporary 

confections that are presented like the structured desserts 

you might find in a high-end restaurant. The company was founded by 

Michael Goodchild, a former plasterer who was inspired to make fudge by 

his grandmother, a keen home cook. However, in order to bring something 

different to the sector, Mr Goodchild reworked the classic fudge recipe to 

make a more modern version. “It is a lot softer than the old-fashioned type 

– the texture is a bit like chocolate truffle, but harder,” he says. 

Like many food ventures, Fudge Fancies was born from a hobby. “I 

started making it for friends and family at Christmas and it went down 

really well. At this time I was also struggling to find work in the building 

trade, so I thought I’d see how far I could take things.” Mr Goodchild 

started selling his fudge from a small retail outlet, but demand from local 

retailers and event planners proved so strong that, after six months, he 

started producing fudge full time and 

selling it online. 

“I’ve had a lot of interest from 

wedding planners and 

businesses wanting to give out corporate gifts, so it made sense to focus 

on production rather than face-to-face retail,” he continues. 

Although traditional crumbly fudge is what most customers will be 

familiar with, Mr Goodchild believes there is also a growing market for the 

modern interpretation. “I present them a bit like cupcakes with some kind 

of pretty decoration on top of each piece – visuals are so important in the 

confectionery sector.” However, the company works hard to ensure its 

creations taste as good as they look; varieties include Eaton mess, white 

chocolate, lemon and lime, and after dinner mint. “Obviously it’s the 

presentation that first attracts people, but flavour is the most important 

thing because it keeps people coming back.” he concludes. 


funfair sweets 

A TASTE 

OF FUN 

Novelty confectionery has never 

been more popular, says Kerry 

Wilkinson of Trufflepiglet 

As disposable income 

declines through 

recovering interest rates 

and rising food and 

energy bills, the public are looking 

for ways to have fun at home and 

indulge without breaking the bank. 

The ‘Make Do and Mend’ ethos is 

still going strong. Nostalgia is 

popular, with many people 

choosing to maximise their dining 

experience within the home, rather 

than splurging at a restaurant. 

And, this trend certainly applies 

to the confectionery market, with 

more customers purchasing 

‘cheap and cheerful’ treats such as 

candy floss, boiled sweets and 

toffee apples. 

Celebrity chefs have 

refashioned this joy for nostalgia a 

lot in 2011. Heston Blumenthal 

recently highlighted funfair food in 

the cinema episode of the Channel 

4 programme: Heston’s Mission 

Impossible. In the show the chef 

revamped the food offerings at a 

branch of Cineworld with toffee 

apples and inside-out hotdogs, 

and set up an exciting carnival 

atmosphere. This worked because 

the foods offered were not too far 

removed from the usual cinema 

treats, but with an added spin it 

made them more enticing and fun, 

and therefore heightened the 

customer experience. 

Sweet gadgets 

Along with the inspiring 

‘performance’ dishes by 

restaurateurs such as Heston 

Blumenthal, the increase in home 

entertaining has given rise to quirky 

kitchen gadgets that shoppers can 

enjoy using in the comfort of their 

own homes. It could be argued that 

the fondue set was the beginning. 

And, this developed into what is 

now the eminent chocolate fountain, 

pioneered by Giles & Posner. 

Lisa Scott, PR and branding 

manager comments on this 

developed interest. “In the past 

year we have seen an average of 

23% increase on the sales of our 

‘fun food entertainment’ home 

products, with the more popular 

items being our candyfloss maker 

and premier chocolate fountains. 

Our retail products are popular as 

they allow the consumer to cook, 

bake and make foods in the 

comfort of their own home. Due to 

the economic condition, more 

people are spending time at home 

and are therefore creating their 

own entertainment in the kitchen.” 

Ms Scott adds, “Giles & Posner 

has also seen a massive increase in 

‘feel good’ products like our 

popcorn makers, cupcake makers, 

and ‘retro style’ items. Our gadget 

portfolio continues to grow every 

month with our range being readily 

available on the high street and also 

online from many retailers.” 

Fun time treats 

The theme of fun and 

entertainment within food has 

brought us popcorn makers and 

even home candy floss machines. 

These give an authentic and 

nostalgic taste of the fun fair 

whenever the consumer wishes. 

Until very recently, fun-fair style 

confectionery could only be 

purchased once a year, when the 

fair came to town. Whereas now, 

consumers can enjoy treats such 

as candy floss in their own living 

rooms during any season. 

Many confectionery producers 

including myself have been keen to 

recognise this trend by 

experimenting with fun flavours. I 

launched trufflepiglet at the 

beginning of the year, and now sell 

candy floss and brandy snaps all 

year round. These treats are 

prepared in small batches as and 

when customers place an order. 

This has worked for me as I have a 

couple of regulars hooked on the 

brandy snaps and therefore keep 

coming back for more! Fine food 

retailers could also tap into this trend 

by focusing on traditional treats, and 

giving out samples in-store. 

Sweetshop chain Sugacane in 

Cardiff is doing just this by offering 

fresh candy floss made in-store. 

The shop offers its customers no 

less than 27 candy floss flavours 

which include traditional tastes 

such as pear drop, apple & custard 

and dandelion and burdock. A 

representative for the company 

said, “Sugacane are restoring a 

sense of performance in stores – 

all the fun of the fair and the thrill of 

the theatrical spectacle. Our staff 

whizz up customers’ favourite floss 

right before their eyes. Be 

transfixed as the sugar crystals are 

transformed magically into mounds 

of soft and wispy melt-in-themonth 

candy floss.” 

For sweet shops looking to 

take advantage of and to capitalise 

on another fun-fair favourite, instore 

fudge making is also being 

offered by the company Calico 

Cottage. The Calico Cottage In- 

Store Fudge Programme means 

that customers can make their 

own cream and butter fudge. It is 

used in sweet shops across the 

world to attract custom. Through 

these lines are only available ready 

made, they are making it easier for 

the customer by producing a kind 

of ‘ready meal’ approach to 

compliment the growing food 

entertainment market. 

A display that pays 

By making up novelty confections 

in-store, customers are given the 

added advantage of freshness and 

it also adds to the excitement and 

theatre of retail. Both of these 

factors add value to the purchase 

and encourage more sales. The 

extra-sensory experiences are why 

this works so well, because 

shoppers not only want to taste 


the food, but want also want to 

take in the tempting smells – afterall 

who can resist the smell of 

freshly cooked popcorn? 

Not many shoppers can refuse 

treats such as this and the 

heightened interest has clearly 

been demonstrated with the rise of 

the ‘traditional’ sweet shop in the 

“With demand 

growing for 

sweets to make 

you smile, the gift 

and confectionery 

retailer would be 

wise to watch 

this trend” 

UK. For several years, more shops 

have been opening up across the 

UK with phenomenal success in 

retailing retro sweets and supplying 

the demand for nostalgic treats. 

These shops are primarily targeted 

at adults, firmly reinforcing the 

message that sweets aren’t just for 

kids. The customer is invited to 

relive the sweet, sour, fizzy and 

creamy textures and tastes they 

enjoyed as a child, but with the 

pocket money of a grown-up 

instead. This often results in 

healthy sales. 

Companies that recognise this 

are definitely cashing in. At a time 

when there are (albeit tenuous) 

parallels to the hard times of the 

1940s, optimistic themes from that 

era are influencing confectionery 

labelling in the form of street party 

iconography, Ministry of Information 

slogans, Union Jacks, knitting and 

liberty prints. All things retro are 

now cool, and of course sweets 

are firmly included. 

Further evidence of the 

demand for retro sugar snacks can 

be found in more modern sweet 

shops, such as high street 

newcomer and sweet franchise 

Sugacane. The chain currently has 

a portfolio of 26 stores, with a 

further 14 expected before the end 

of 2011. Director Adam Johnston 

comments, “A very large 

proportion of Sugacane’s 

customers are adults, in fact our 

figures show that our biggest 

market is the over 50’s. 

“We feel that adults of this age 

find Sugacane so appealing 

because we have harnessed the 

old world traditional sweets, kept 

the quality and put it into an 

environment that people today can 

relate to more than the old 

fashioned sweet shops that are 

around. We also incorporate coffee 

into the stores so people may be 

coming in for a coffee and noticing 

sweets they have not seen for 

years, it creates a really nice 

atmosphere,” he says. 

With demand growing for 

sweets to make you smile, the gift 

and confectionery retailer would be 

wise to watch this trend. For 

example, at trufflepiglet, I have 

created chocolates in the shape of 

tuxedos, pigs, cakes and even round 

bombs which are appealing to all 

age groups and look eye-catching 

when put together as a collection. 

Of course people are always 

going to buy high end 

confectionery for special occasions, 

however when buying for 

themselves or an informal 

gathering, there are fantastic 

opportunities for embracing the 

‘fun’ trend. As we saw with the 

development of the fondue set 

evolving into the chocolate fountain, 

it is exciting to anticipate what will 

come next. There are many other 

niches yet to be explored and 

discovered, which will no doubt 

start to show during 2012. 

Kerry Wilkinson is the owner 

of trufflepiglet, for more 

information please see, 

W: www.trufflepiglet.com, 

or E: kerry@trufflepiglet.com 


etail advice 

Capitalising on 

Confectionery 

After setting up five successful 

chocolate shops, Helen Pattinson of 

Montezuma Chocolates is welladvised 

to pass retail knowledge onto 

other aspiring chocolatiers 

In 2000, my husband Simon 

and I wanted to set up a 

chocolate business, that 

solely focused on retail. 

Initially we had no intention of 

making chocolate ourselves, but 

after conducting some in-depth 

market research, we decided this 

was a route we wanted to explore. 

So, we set about finding British 

producers who could help us to 

create a range of chocolates under 

the Montezuma’s brand. After 

seeking some expert advice and 

undergoing many negotiations, we 

opened our first store in Brighton in 

August 2000. 

To our joy and amazement, 

customers came in and spent 

money! It was the most fascinating 

and exhilarating experience, to see 

a customer actually part with good 

money to buy something we had 

personally created. More 

importantly, they came back for 

more. We now produce all of our 

chocolates in Chichester and have 

five stores in Brighton, Chichester, 

Winchester, Kingston-upon-Thames 

and Spitalfields Market in London. 

Setting up and running our 

own stores was at first a very steep 

learning curve, but after acquiring 

over a decade of experience and 

more recently, a constant attention 

to detail we now feel qualified to 

talk to other retailers about which 

products they should be taking, 

how to merchandise them and 

how they should talk to their 

customers about them. We have 

learnt a lot in eleven years of 

retailing and these are eight of my 

top chocolatier tips. 

1 Sampling 

We always have a taster tray 

out in our stores with small 

samples of the chocolate of the 

day. Our store teams are targeted 

to go outside ten times every day 

with the tray. This gives them an 

opportunity to talk to customers 

who may not ordinarily come into 

our store. It’s all very well offering a 

taster when they’re already in-store 

but at that point, they are already in 

the buying frame of mind. If you 

can convert someone on the street 

who was going to walk straight 

past, that is a real achievement. 

2 Price 

Chocolate ranges in price 

enormously and sometimes it’s 

difficult to justify why it is so 

expensive. We only sell 

Montezuma’s products in our 

stores and our aim is ‘to bring the 

food of the gods to mere mortals’ 

or the best quality possible while 

making sure it’s affordable. If you’re 


etail advice 

buying other brands, carry out a 

sanity check before you invest in 

stock. If the retail price shocks you, 

it will probably shock your 

customers, and inevitably sit on the 

shelf for a while. 

Stock turn 

3Although a lot of chocolate 

products have a good shelf life, we 

have learnt the hard way that sitting 

on stock is not good business 

practice. I shouldn’t say this but 

make your supplier sit on the stock; 

as an independent retailer, you 

should hold as little stock as 

possible and order little and often. 

That also helps cash flow, without 

which there is no business! 

“We always have 

a taster tray out in 

our stores with 

small samples of 

the chocolate” 

Customer service 

4It’s obvious that service is so 

important but it’s hard to believe 

that when you walk into some 

shops. Having a mini chain of 

stores has meant that we can’t be 

in them all the time. In fact, we 

have fantastic teams in each store 

who represent our brand to the 

utmost. In order to have some 

consistency however, we do have 

strict standards that everybody 

must adhere to. From the initial 

greeting when you walk into the 

store, the offer of a taster and help, 

to a loyalty card at the till. 

There is no script but there are 

certain things we like our staff to 

say and do. For this reason, we 

also employ mystery shoppers. I 

was fairly sceptical about investing 

in mystery shoppers at first but I 

am now completely sold on the 

idea. If you own more than one 

shop, it is worth considering. It 

keeps the teams on their toes and 

they actually enjoy the competition 

between stores when the quarterly 

results are released. 

5 Knowledge 

Chocolate is the same as any 

other food, it will not fly off the 

shelves without knowledgeable 

staff. With a very large product 

range, customers are sometimes 

overwhelmed when they first walk 

into Montezuma’s. Therefore, staff 

need to be aware of this and try to 

guide them through the range 

without being overbearing. 

Chocolate can be a complicated 

food, with different cocoa 

percentages, various cocoa 

sources, truffles, bars and drinking 

chocolate as well as great price 

variations. It’s the best part of the 

job but your staff need to have 

tried most of the products to be 

able to give their opinion and have 

learnt the differences between the 

various products. If you’re not clear 

what those differences are, then 

the producers should be more 

than happy to give you some 

easy guidelines. 

6 Merchandising 

Clean, tidy and well labelled 

with some creative flair; these are 

the keys to merchandising. 

I can’t stand seeing dirty or dusty 

shelves and products. For me, 

neat ordered presentation is the 

way forward. I like to see 

products merchandised in their 

ranges to keep it simple for 

customers, however the more 

creative retailer may decide to mix 

up lines and use other themes to 

display groups of products such 

as colour or country of origin. 

Just make sure the theme is 

obvious to the customer and it is 

all labelled clearly. 

7 Expansion 

Opening up additional stores is 

expensive and you can make very 

costly mistakes very easily so the 

first thing to focus on is location. 

Just because your store format 

works in one street, it doesn’t 

mean it will work in another area. 

We have spent days in each town 

and opened stores by simply 

counting people walking up and 

down past the target store. 

Compare it to your current store 

and if it’s not as high, don’t 

consider taking it. When you’re 

happy with location, consider 

recruiting an experienced manager 

to run one of your stores. 

It’s really hard to try to manage 

two stores in different towns and 

the investment in a 

manager should be 

worth it. Just make 

sure you calculate this 

into your projections! 

A good manager 

should bring with them 

some good new ideas 

but make sure you spend 

time with them instilling 

your standards first. 

word 

8Finally, play to 

your strengths. As 

independent 

retailers, we have 

a huge amount of 

competition, 

from other 

chocolate 

retailers and 

also the 

supermarkets, so therefore we 

have to create a point of difference 

to succeed. Create a warm and 

welcome atmosphere in the store 

with the right music and welcome, 

use some nicely hand-written 

boards to promote different 

products and use your tasters. 

Make sure each customer receives 

an individual offer of help and try to 

engage them in conversation. 

People are generally very happy 

when they’re buying chocolate so 

it’s worth making the most of it! 


trends 

What’s 

Sweet 

Paul Hargreaves, managing director of 

Cotswold Fayre reflects on the latest 

confectionery trends which includes the 

rise of the British chocolatier 

Since my first foray into the 

confectionery market ten 

years ago, the sector has 

changed remarkably, 

particularly in the UK. There is a 

huge variety of both sweet and 

chocolate brands and the market 

has increased in sophistication 

beyond belief. The number of 

artisan chocolate brands, for 

example in the south of England 

has gone from two to more than 

ten within the last 10 years. From a 

country that used to import most of 

its chocolate products this is 

encouraging. When I was a kid it 

had to be Swiss or Belgian 

chocolate, now it is almost more 

special to buy a loved one 

chocolates from the UK. 

I distinctively remember my first 

visit to ISM in Cologne and being 

amazed at the variety of 

confectionery on offer from Europe, 

whilst virtually the only busy stand 

on the UK Pavilion was one selling 

bras and knickers made of 

refreshers! I am pleased to say that 

the UK seems to have made 

strides in a more positive direction 

in terms of innovation and 

sophistication within the 

confectionery sector. 

A few years ago artisan 

producers started introducing more 

unusual flavours into chocolate 

whether in bars, novelty shapes or 

Easter eggs. We saw the arrival of 

vanilla, chilli, cardamom, and even 

salt and pepper. These products 

and flavours are still around, and 

more are emerging. Possibly some 

of the manufacturers are maybe 

trying just a bit too hard, but this 

partly comes from the market 

in the Market? 

almost reaching saturation point 

and chocolatiers having to produce 

something different to stand out 

from the crowd. Having said that, 

the quality of some of these 

chocolate bars is far higher than it 

was only a few years ago. And, on 

a personal note, I just love the kick 

from the chilli after I have enjoyed a 

mouthful of chocolate. 

Retro revival 

Another of the fastest growing 

trends in recent years, almost 

reaching exponential proportions 

has been the growth in retro 

sweets. Hope and Greenwood 

pioneered this trend, and have since 

been followed by several lower 

priced copy-cat brands. However 

these newer brands sometimes 

miss the charm, fun and playfulness 

that Mr Greenwood and Miss Hope 

bring to the retro sweet market. It is 

not just about the products, such as 

flying saucers, sherbet dips and love 

hearts, but the way they are 

presented and the story behind 

the products. 

However, many of these retro 

products are still using E numbers 

and artificial colours in their 

products whilst the market in our 

sector is demanding sweets that 

are free from artificial flavours and 

colours. Even though the colours 

aren’t quite as vivid, it is essential 

that these manufacturers move 

with the times if this trend is going 

to continue growing. 

The premium trend is more 

recent and there’s been a huge 

increase in 

awareness of 

what constitutes quality 

confectionery, and an increase in 

the supply base too. David Hill, MD 

of the confectionery marketing 

consultancy, Cocoda Ltd says, “It’s 

as if the bar has been raised so 

that brands like Lindt or Green and 

Blacks, which were considered 

premium and even exclusive ten 

years ago, have since become the 

entry point for premium.” Mr Hill 

says, “While these will always be 

terrific products and brands, over 

this period, there has been an 

explosion in awareness and brands 

at a higher level such as Hotel 

Chocolat, Chocca Mocca, James, 

up to and including brands like 

Paul A Young, l’Artisan du 

Chocolat and Melt.” 

Some customers are now 

happy to pay over £3 for a 75- 

100g bar of chocolate whereas the 

most anyone would pay a few 

years ago was around £1.50 - 

£2.00. I have been approached by 

many producers of chocolate bars 

within the last year and there is a 

danger of proliferation without 

generating the volumes needed to 

run a successful business. It is 

important to distinguish between 

truly artisan products here and 

branding companies that are simply 

putting their own design on 

chocolate bars that are all 

produced in the same factory in 

Italy or Switzerland. 

Finally let’s consider the ‘ethical’ 

trend that seems to cover the 

greatest spread of USPs. Mr Hill 

comments, “These are much 

‘softer’ and tactile cues. Organic, 

fair trade, provenance, single estate 

all lie within this category.” There are 

many examples covering these 

trends; Summerdown Mint has an 

unrivalled provenance story and 

Prestat’s support of the ESOKO 

scheme are just two examples, but 

it is wrong to assume this is only 

relevant to chocolate confectionery. 

The Natural Candy Shop range is 

entirely free from artificial flavours, 

colourings and preservatives and a 

new sugar confectionery range 

called ‘Jealous’ which says 

everything from ‘Happy Birthday, to 

I Love you, Happy Diwali, 

Hanukkah and Eid’, also addresses 

the ethical needs of many 

consumers. 

So, clearly, it is important to 

stock products that exhibit one or 

preferably more than one of the 

trends talked about here. If I have 

one tip it would be to ensure that 

you include some brands that have 

some degree of marketing behind 

them that will drive some volume, as 

well as the brands that customers 

may not have heard of, but will buy 

on appearance and interest. 


toffee 

Refashioning 

Flavour 

Traditional toffee will always have its fans, 

but with limited innovation in the sector, 

what does the future have in store? 

As anyone who visited 

Speciality & Fine Food 

Fair 2011 will know, there 

was a high concentration 

of stands exhibiting confectionery. 

From exquisite Belgian chocolates 

to American-inspired candies, there 

was a massive array on offer – no 

doubt attracted by the newlylaunched 

Speciality Chocolate Fair. 

The numerous companies 

displaying old-fashioned sweets 

proved that the retro confectionery 

trend is still going strong, but one 

sector appeared to be slightly 

under-represented – toffee. 

While companies such as 

William Santus & Co (owners of the 

Uncle Joe’s brand) and House of 

Dorchester offer a few lines, there 

doesn’t seem to be anywhere near 

as much excitement in this 

category compared to, say, 

gourmet fudge. We asked Emma 

Walker, marketing manager for 

historic toffee producer Walkers’ 

Nonsuch, if this is really the case. 

“Unfortunately, over the past 

few decades many of the small, 

traditional toffee companies have 

died out,” she explains. “Bigger 

producers such as Thorntons and 

Tangerine dominate the market 

quite heavily, and we’ve also been 

up against huge price increases in 

sugar and butter, so things are 

tough, especially for the little guy.” 

Walkers’ Nonsuch is arguably 

the most well known toffee maker in 

the speciality sector; originating as a 

sweet shop in Stoke-on-Trent 

during the 19th Century, the 

company now sells a growing 

selection of innovative and more 

recognisable lines to delis, farm 

shops and sweet shops. “We’re a 

family-run company and still use the 

same recipe that was developed 

over a century ago – including 

whole milk and creamy butter,” says 

Ms Walker. Some of the company’s 

gift sets even include a toffee 

hammer, traditionally designed to 

break up slabs of hard toffee. 

If the sector is all about 

nostalgia, would it be fair to say that 

the confection appeals to older 

consumers? “This demographic 

makes up our core customer base. 

They are people who have probably 

been eating it since they were 

children, so it’s really important that 

our original recipe stays the same,” 

explains Ms Walker. However the 

company is also looking to the 

future. “For a heritage brand like 

ours, there is a difficulty in staying 

true to our roots, while also 

keeping things fresh and engaging 

younger customers.” 

Many flavoured toffees have 

been added to the selection over 

the past few years, including 

Chocolate, Liquorice and Banana 

Split. “After our English Creamy and 

Treacle Toffee flavours, Liquorice is 

probably our biggest seller. It’s 

made using real liquorice root, 

which is said to be a kind of energy 

booster, and customers are always 

telling us how they use it as a 

natural pick-me-up,” she says. The 

Banana Split flavour is also proving 

particularly popular among children. 

“We don’t use any artificial colours, 

preservatives or hydrogenated fats, 

which really appeals to parents. 

Sweets are should obviously only 

to be eaten as an occasional treat, 

but I think customers really 

appreciate the fact that our toffees 

only contain ingredients they 

recognise,” she adds. 

Peter Julian, sales director of 

Bon Bon’s, recently noticed a gap 

in the company’s selection for 

traditional toffee. “I 

was looking at our 

retro sweet packs 

the other day and 

realised that they only thing we 

don’t do is toffee, so it’s definitely 

something we’ll look into,” he 

explains. Bon Bon’s sells 

chocolate-coated cinder toffee 

(also known as honeycomb), but 

not the hard variety. “There seems 

to have been a lot of innovation in 

the fudge sector over the past 

year, but development in toffee 

seems a bit slower. Possibly 

because people love the classic 

stuff so much,” he adds. 

Walkers’ Nonsuch is currently 

developing a number of exciting 

new lines, but agrees that there 

will always be a demand for oldfashioned 

toffee. “Food trends 

come and go, but this is 

something that will stay strong. I 

don’t think consumers will ever 

stop buying it,” she adds. 


comment 

Talk 

Trade 

of the 

Want to know the latest confectionery 

trends? Confectionery Magazine 

spoke to retailers about this season’s 

most popular products... 

“The best selling confections in my shop are the flying saucers, they 

are a sweet that all kids love but they also tap into the retro sweet 

market so adults ask for them too. The most extreme sweets we sell 

are the mega sour sweets which are incredible and come with a 

caution. I even got a letter from the manufacturers reminding me to 

remind the customers of the caution. We do a lot of things to get our 

name known locally. It’s a standard area of practice really. We have a 

stall at Nottingham theater and we try and sell our sweets at as many 

local events as possible. We do also put a lot of time into our window 

displays which we change seasonally and in time for big events such 

as Easter and Christmas.” 

Ashley Naylor, Sugar and Spice, Notthingham 

“We sell an awful lot of chocolate bars – our salt ones in particular are 

very popular. We’ve definitely got some particular flavours that are 

trendy such as date and ginger; orange, lemon and geranium; rose 

and black pepper and caramel, peanut and black pepper. We also sell 

a lot of broken slabs of chocolate with freeze-dried raspberries.” 

Kristina Currie, Coco Chocolate, Edinburgh 

“We do quite a lot of single origin chocolates from Peru, Madagascar, 

Venezuala. It’s just like wine or coffee; where provenance of the cocoa 

bean will really contribute to the finished product. There are so many 

factors; the climate, weather, the amount of rainfall they get all makes 

a difference. I think it’s the way forward for chocolate really and I feel 

people are waking up to the fact that cocoa beans will have different 

tastes and textures depending on where they come from. I think 

celebrity chocolatiers such as Willie Harcourt-Cooze have actually 

been really good for the industry. He has taught people to appreciate 

the different flavours of chocolate. Our best sellers are definitely the 

fresh truffles we make everyday on sight. We use locally sourced 

ingredients, which is really important to our customers.” 

Andrea Parsons, I Should Coco, St Ives 

“At the moment we have 

a local company 

producing chocolate 

exclusively for us. They do 

a lot of different flavours 

such as mint chocolate 

chip and peanut butter, 

and sell really well. We’ve 

just got a big American 

range in which features 

iconic confectionery such 

as Willy Wonka, Reese’s 

pieces, tootsie rolls, candy 

corns, and Hersheys. Also 

the old favourites such as 

rhubarb and custard are 

doing really well – we have 

over three hundred jars full 

of retro sweets – people 

see it and get excited 

saying, “we haven’t seen 

this in years!” 

Carrie Hope Fletcher, 

The Olde Sweet Shop, 

Norwich 


comment 

“We sell locally-produced fudge which does very well, and also a lot of 

traditional sweets such as Turkish delight and liquorice. Our best seller 

is crystallised stem ginger – both plain and chocolate-covered. The 

older generation tend to go for the classic ginger whereas children 

tend to go for as much chocolate as they can get!” 

Michael Foreman, Village Delicatessen, Wivenhoe 

"Hope and Greenwood’s current 

best sellers are our Jolly Mixture 

Funbags, Tuck Shop Jars, 

Rhubarb and Custard Ration 

Jars, and Champagne Truffles in 

packaging inspired by fabrics 

from 1890. Rather than rest on 

our laurels we’ve also 

created Fizz! Bang! 

Wallops! which are extremely 

fizzy and Foaming Blue Cherries 

which foam up wildly in the 

mouth. We see a trend in 

products and sweets that are warm and comforting, given this 

economic climate, customers are looking for things that hark back to 

our childhoods (or our grandparents’ childhoods) when things seemed 

simpler. This goes perfectly with my brand rule, ‘if my Auntie Mary had 

it in her pantry - then we stock it.’" 

Miss Hope, Hope & Greenwood, London 

“We sell mainly individual chocolates, and have cabinets for both 

classic chocolates and novelty chocolates. We’ve made a name for 

ourselves by ensuring that our products are always very high quality. 

The special themed chocolates that we sell during the holidays – 

Christmas, Easter and Valentines Day always do very well.” 

Natalie Faulkes, Monk Bar Chocolates, York 

“We make a chocolate which represents the goddess Minerva. In 

Belgium the chocolates are often made to represent someone local, 

maybe a mythical god or a saint. People like to identify their chocolate 

with something or someone who is symbolic of the place they’ve 

visited, like an edible souvenir. We do a lot of small individual chocolates 

called carraques. We have them in flower shapes; roses and violets. 

They’re wafer thin and people like to have them with coffee. In the 

summer people don’t want chocolate that is going to melt in your 

hands so you need something sturdy with a high melting point which 

can survive the hot weather. When it was the cherry season, cherries 

dipped in a dark chocolate were very popular. Another favourite is my 

big chocolate breasts that I sell in the front window. They attract quite a 

crowd and are a bit of fun; naughty but nice!” 

Philippe Wall, master chocolatier at Minerva, Bath 


fairtrade 

Paying a 

Fair Price 

With ethical chocolate making up ten 

percent of all confectionery sales, 

Eileen Maybin of the Fairtrade 

Foundation reveals what steps 

retailers and producers are taking 

to further this figure 

Sales of UK Fairtrade 

chocolate have soared in the 

last few years as consumers 

can now indulge their 

passion for chocolate and ethics 

together with over 500 ethical 

chocolate confectionery products. 

The ten-fold growth in retail 

sales from £32m in 2008 to £343m 

in 2010 is largely due to mainstream 

brands converting popular 

chocolate bars like Cadbury Dairy 

Milk and Nestlé’s four-finger Kit Kat 

to Fairtrade, but it is also because of 

exciting innovations in the category 

by independent premium chocolate 

companies and own-label fine 

chocolate ranges. With the total 

category worth £3.2bn in 2010, 

Fairtrade sales now make up 

around ten percent of UK chocolate 

confectionery sales. 

“We are delighted that the UK 

chocolate industry is embracing 

Fairtrade in this way because there 

is a real appetite for it among the 

public who want to see businesses 

treating farmers fairly and 

supporting the communities they 

live in,” says Harriet Lamb, executive 

director of the Fairtrade Foundation. 

“The public see buying ethical 

chocolate as a way to make a real 

difference to cocoa farmers with 

every purchase.” 

A recent survey, commissioned 

by the Fairtrade Foundation, found 

that UK consumers continue to 

have high expectations of how 

companies operate in developing 

countries. Over 80% of interviewees 

said companies should protect the 

environment and ensure farmers 

and workers are paid fairly and have 

safe working conditions. Fairtrade 

aims to improve living standards 

and conditions for farmers and 

farming communities, and so 

support the development of a 

sustainable cocoa sector. 

While the value of the global 

chocolate confectionery trade 

continues to grow, the benefits have 

not always been shared with cocoa 

growing communities where access 

to clean water, electricity, decent 

healthcare and education are rare. 

Decades of low commodity prices, 

exacerbated by rising farm and 

household expenses, mean cocoa 

farmers struggle to provide for their 

families and are unable to invest in 

improving the productivity or quality 

of their crop. Their children are often 

seeing no future in the cocoa 

industry, and are therefore deserting 

the farms and moving to the cities. 

As a result the industry could soon 

see a decline in production and face 

a shortage of its vital ingredient. 

By participating in Fairtrade, the 

farmers benefit from a stable price 

that enables them to plan their 

family and household budgets. 

Their cooperatives are able to 

access pre-financing, develop longterm 

partnerships with chocolate 

companies, develop their farming 

businesses, strengthen their 

organisations, and invest the 

premium in much needed 

community development. 

Divine Chocolate, the chocolate 

company which has always blazed 

a trail for Fairtrade being part-owned 

by the 63,000 small-scale cocoa 

farmers of the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative 

in Ghana, continues to 

introduce new Fairtrade products to 

its range and develop creative ideas 

to improve its existing products and 

modernise its marketing. 

Cake maker to the stars, Lily 

Vanilli says, “With Divine, you’re 

drawn to them because their 

products are Fairtrade, but once 

you’ve tried it, it’s all about the 

chocolate.” The range of 12 

chocolate flavours, in 100g bars, 

includes Dark Chocolate with 

Ginger & Orange, White Chocolate 

with Strawberries, and Hazelnut 

Milk Chocolate. 

This year Divine has also 

changed the look of its chocolate. 

The bars now feature traditional 

Adinkra symbols, evoking Divine’s 

Ghanian heritage. The motifs carry 

meanings which reflect ancient 

proverbs, human characteristics, 

and historical events. And, in a bid 

to remain current, Divine recently 

announced the launch of the new 

Divine Chocolate App for iPhone 

and iPad, designed by creative 

agency Uber London. 

The Co-operative supermarket 

has enjoyed a long and commited 

relationship with Divine Chocolate. 

Over the years significant benefits 

have been delivered to communities 

in Ghana thanks to The Cooperative 

customers. The most 

recent investment has seen the 

building of a three-classroom block 

and ‘The Co-operative House’, in 

New Koforidua where the people of 

the town host paying guests and 

can add tourism income to their 

farming livelihoods as well as 

enjoying the building as a new 

community centre. 

And, it is not just supermarkets 

that have started to focus more on 


Fairtrade brands. Chocolatier, 

Thorntons also continue to bring out 

new Fairtrade offerings, recently 

introducing three new 80g blocks: 

Fairtrade Milk Banana Chocolate 

Block, using Fairtrade organic 

bananas from Ecuador; Fairtrade 

White Choc Block with Vanilla, and 

Dark Apricot Chocolate Block; 

where the sweet Fairtrade organic 

apricots from the Hunza Valley of 

Pakistan add a twist to the hazelnut 

notes of the organic dark chocolate. 

The first ever fairly traded 

chocolate to arrive on UK shop 

shelves in 1994 was the premium 

chocolate brand Green & Black’s 

Maya Gold bar which is made with 

organic cocoa from Belize. This year 

again, Green & Black’s set an 

industry standard, announcing news 

of Fairtrade certification across its 

entire block bar offering. Neil La 

Croix, head of sustainability, 

explains, “Green & Black’s is a 

brand which was built on ethical 

principles, and will continue to do 

Image: Simon Rawles 

Image: Gary Roberts 

so, recognising the incredibly 

important role that the suppliers 

have to play in helping us to create 

the quality product that everyone 

knows and loves. The cost of 

trading fairly and securing supplies 

ethically makes good business 

sense, and this is a principle shared 

by Fairtrade with whom we have 

had a long-standing relationship”. 

Meanwhile the ethical artisan 

chocolate producers who choose 

Fairtrade as it fits with its brand 

identify continue to come up with 

new fun ideas. Cocoa Loco, the 

small family firm who started up its 

business from its kitchen in West 

Sussex aiming to make premium 

treats in an accessible and 

affordable style, has recently added 

a Dark Chocolate & Mint Hot 

Chocolate Spoon to the range of 

three others.The 30g of chocolate 

can be eaten off the wooden spoon 

or stirred into hot milk to make a hot 

chocolate drink. 

Gourmet chocolatier Feeding 

Your Imagination, who say it 

produces chocolate with 

therapeutic oils and herbs to 

promote inner well-being, has just 

launched a ‘Traditional’ range of 

three bars in classic dark, milk or 

‘secret’. The pre-packed chocolate 

giftbox contains the three 85g bars. 

And, nothing quite says ‘gifts’ like 

bespoke chocolates from 

Chocolala. Handmade and handpackaged 

Chocolala chocolates 

highlight extravagance with its 

chocolate mango sticks and white 

chocolate tulips. 

All of these chocolatey 

developments mean that more and 

more farmers have been able to 

participate in the Fairtrade system 

and sell more of their crop on ethical 

terms. Now 62 Fairtrade certified 

producer organisations represent 

more than 120,000 farmers across 

18 countries from the Dominican 

Republic to Haiti, and Sierra Leone 

to Sri Lanka. 

This year has seen challenges 

to the cocoa farmers in Côte 

d’Ivoire where the post-election 

violence brought misery to many 

rural communities. However, 

Fairtrade is supporting producers to 

develop a recovery programme. 

Meanwhile the grassroots 

consumer base continues to grow 

in the UK with 520 Fairtrade Towns 

where strong networks of schools, 

faith groups and workplaces actively 

promote Fairtrade, meaning that 

recognition of the mark has grown 

to 77% of UK consumers and nine 

out of ten consumers trust 

Fairtrade. The Fairtrade Foundation 

hopes that, as more and more UK 

consumers see purchasing 

Fairtrade goods as a powerful and 

credible way of reducing poverty 

through their everyday shopping, 

chocolate sales will continue to 

grow so that more cocoa 

communities benefit. 

Divine Chocolate is a brand that’s 

won hearts and minds – and offers 

a great range of flavours that look 

fabulous on retailers’ shelves 

profile 

Divine& 

Delicious 

In Divine, chocolate lovers 

have discovered a perfect 

combination – delicious rich 

smooth natural chocolate, 

with all sorts of exciting flavours to 

choose from – and a company 

shoppers can believe in. 

Divine puts product excellence 

and choice first – with a great range 

of bars and an exceptional selection 

of seasonal specialities and gifts that 

grows every year. Chocolate lovers 

expect good chocolate from the 

brand, but they also love that Divine 

is an independent company owned 

by cocoa farmers, proving that it’s 

possible, and fun, to do business 

differently. Whether it’s sponsorship 

of Chocolate Week, being the 

official chocolate bar at Glastonbury, 

entering the Divine Women Awards, 

teaching Fairtrade at schools – or 

just chatting to Divine on Facebook 

– there are many ways people join 

and enjoy the world of Divine. 

Interesting flavours 

Divine’s stand-out flavours – such 

as dark chocolate with raspberry, 

white chocolate with strawberry, 

and dark chocolate with ginger and 

orange have all been huge hits, and 

new delights are in the pipeline. To 

make the moment you open a bar 

even more Divine, the chocolate 

mould now features 

the Adinkra symbols 

you’ll recognise from 

the packaging. They 

represent Divine’s 

Ghanaian roots and 

each one has its 

own meaning. 

For Christmas 

the company is 

introducing solid chocolate discs in 

two flavours – dark with raspberry 

and dark with mint – both in pretty 

gift boxes, and the most beautiful 

illustration yet on its popular Advent 

Calendar. Next year you can expect 

some tasty additions to the 

Valentine and Easter range, as well 

as thicker shelled chocolate eggs. 

The cocoa in Divine is sourced 

directly from Ghana: grown, 

harvested, fermented and dried with 

care by the farmers who take great 

pride in the chocolate company 

they own. In turn, the people at 

Divine take their inspiration from the 

cooperative that voted to start the 

company, and from those who help 

to spread the message. And, it’s not 

just individuals who pass the word 

on – Divine is also lucky enough to 

be the partner of choice for a variety 

of big brands who want to reward 

its customers, add value, and grow 

their business. 

Image: Brian Moody 


interview 

Meet the 

Buyer 

Few chocolate shops boast a 

church altar as a centrepiece. 

Then again, Paul A. Young is 

radically different to most 

chocolatiers and his new shop in Soho 

is a unique space, says Steven Pierce 

Appropriately for retail 

premises in the heart of 

Theatreland, Paul’s new 

shop has more than a 

touch of the theatrical about it. “It 

doesn’t look like any other shop on 

the street,” he tells me in the 

whitewashed basement kitchen of 

143 Wardour Street. “It has a 

dramatic front but it’s not overly 

designed. It’s a very clean-lined 

shop front. It is purple – very purple 

– and has big windows right down 

to the floor. When you stand there, 

you can’t miss it. After all having an 

altar in your shop is very theatrical!” 

Paul is one of the world’s most 

respected chocolatiers. He has won 

dozens of awards from the 

Academy of Chocolate and his 

publication, Adventures With 

Chocolate won World’s Best 

Chocolate Book at last year’s 

Gourmand Cookbook Awards. 

Since he and business partner 

James Cronin opened their first 

chocolaterie in Islington in 2006, 

Paul has become synonymous with 

unusual, daring and exciting flavour 

combinations. Chocolates flavoured 

with ingredients such as Stilton, 

Marmite and Stout have made him 

famous and continue to distinguish 

him from London’s other artisan 

chocolatiers, and to provide him 

with a crucial point of difference. 

Paul is the first of London’s new 

wave of artisan chocolatiers to open 

a third shop, and he attributes the 

success of his stores to the quality of 

his ever-changing range of products, 

which helps ensure repeat custom. 

Paul’s chocolates are handmade 

with the finest seasonal ingredients, 

and many are sourced locally. These 

qualities are clearly manifested in his 

stunning new Summer Collection, 

launched to coincide with the 

opening of the new shop. Paul’s 

creativity is expressed in delicious yet 

unexpected combinations such as 

limoncello and parsley; coconut 

water and lemon grass; tomato, basil 

and olive oil; goat’s cheese, rosemary 

and lemon; orange and tarragon; 

and Kernel Brewery stout with dark 

muscovado – a particular highlight. 

Location, location 

I ask Paul why he chose Soho as the 

location of his flagship chocolaterie. 

“James and I always wanted to be in 

Soho,” he explains. “We both used to 

work in Soho and I love the feel of the 

place and the people: they’re creative, 

they’re edgy, they’re foodie. It was just 

a question of finding a location in 

Soho that I could afford and that 

would work, with the right dimensions 

and kitchen space. Everything we’ve 

worked for in the past five years has 

gone into this shop so it had to work 

on every single level.” 

Despite Soho becoming 

something of a foodie area in recent 

years, Paul isn’t worried about the 

prospect of competition. “I don’t 

think we have any competition here 

because we don’t do anything that 

anyone else does,” he insists. 

“There are cupcake shops, 

bakeries, patisseries, delicatessens 

and restaurants, but no chocolate 

shops. I think it’s a good mix; we 

complement each other. The 

feedback from customers so far has 

been that they’re glad we’re here.” 

While the chocolates in Paul’s 

new chocolaterie perpetuate the 

gastronomic principles for which he 

has become so respected, the 

shop itself has its own identity. It 

may carry Paul’s signature deep 

purple colour, but his new flagship is 

larger and more dramatic than his 

Islington and City of London shops, 

which feel more intimate by 

comparison. Upon stepping into his 

Soho chocolaterie, customers are 

greeted by a large central wooden 

table used to showcase the 

Summer Collection. “I wanted the 

chocolates to be on show, not 

behind glass,” Paul explains. 

He clearly put a lot of thought 

into the design of the chocolaterie. 

“It was not a generic shop fit,” Paul 

recalls. “I believe that I cannot brief a 

designer to deliver the kind of shop 

that I want. If I can find things myself, 

it might take longer, but then I am 

not confined. It wasn’t a shop fit 

where everything’s fixed; everything 

is movable, so the layout of the shop 

could change. One day I might think 

that the brownies should be in the 

other window; we might decide that 

the chocolates should be on the 

altar. It just means that we have 

flexibility. You don’t want to invest all 

that money in something that’s 

attached to the walls and then 

realise it’s not quite working. 

“Everything in the shop has 

been picked by me,” he continues. 

“There’s a lot of my personality in 

there. They’re all different pieces of 

furniture, either recycled, up-cycled 

or handmade. I found the wallpaper 

[which is adorned with black and 

white cocoa pods] in Cole & Son 

and knew I had to have it. The 

beautiful glass cabinet with the 

brownies on is from a 1910 Parisian 

shop counter. Some of it was very 

last minute: the altar arrived in the 

last week or so, and so did the 

table [July 2011]. The dresser came 

five days ago. It was very last 

minute because you can’t buy it all 

together then put it in and realise it 

doesn’t work. 


interview 

“Before the first week of 

opening, we had no products in the 

shop. We just had all the furniture 

and a sign saying when we were 

opening. And people were stopping 

and looking in, just at the props we 

had in the shop, and the décor. If 

you had those pieces in your home, 

it wouldn’t work because they’re all 

very different – but it’s a eye-catching 

look in retail. Nothing looks the same 

but they’re all very interesting in their 

“We needed a big 

counter, then we 

saw this altar and 

thought that it 

would fit” 

own way, in an architectural and 

structural sense. I could live in a 

house that’s split down the middle: 

modern on one side and classic on 

the other, and that’s what I tried to do 

with the shop.” 

Getting the 

atmosphere right 

I tell Paul that walking into his new 

chocolaterie feels like entering 

someone’s home, perhaps his own. 

“I’ve seen this shop since it was 

absolutely rotten,” he tells me. “I’ve 

grown with it. When I walk in, it feels 

like me, so I don’t see it quite as 

dramatically as other people. I see 

everything that’s in the shop as 

something I would personally own. 

Especially the chandelier! It was 

made by a lady who owns a 

company called Roast Designs. It’s 

a very small company: she makes 

everything herself down in Herne 

Hill. She has all the glass made to 

her specifications. So we had a 

consultation about the size, shape, 

colours and textures. That was an 

exciting project because the 

chandelier is one of the focal points 

of the room. If that wasn’t right then 

it could have spoiled the room.” 

If the chandelier is one of the 

chocolaterie’s focal points, the 

church altar is certainly the most 

unusual. “There’s been a mixed 

reaction to the altar,” Paul 

concedes. “One lady said, ‘I’m not 

really sure you should have an altar.’ 

Some people feel on a personal 

level that it’s not quite right. But I 

don’t see it as being something 

shocking or out of the ordinary.” 

So Paul didn’t choose the altar 

to make an explicit statement about 

religion? “Not at all,” he insists. “We 

needed a big counter, then we saw 

this altar and thought that it would 

fit. People do say, ‘I worship your 

chocolates’ so we just saw it and 

thought ‘yes’. And it’s got a ‘P’ and 

an ‘A’ on the front, very oddly. It just 

fitted as soon as we saw it. That 

was the first big piece of furniture 

we picked and it looks lovely 

against that wall. It won’t fit 

anywhere else in the shop though! I 

love it. When I retire or sell the 

business, I will take that with me. It’ll 

become a dining table or a 

breakfast bar!” 

Paul strikes me as the kind of 

person who would find it difficult to 

step away from his business, such 

is his passion and attention to detail. 

I tell him that I can’t envisage him 

ever selling the Paul A. Young 

brand. “In ten, 15 or 20 years, the 

point will come when I’ll want to be 

the creative director but not making 

chocolates every day,” he thinks. 

“The business will evolve and move 

on. I am a workaholic, but I’m not 

OCD with it: I can have a day out of 

the business and not feel tied to it.” 

For now, however, Paul is 

focused on his new flagship 

chocolaterie. “This is my space now 

until my team are up and running, 

fully trained and know what they’re 

doing, then I can float between the 

three,” he says. Paul also claims that 

he can’t envisage opening any more 

shops in London. That may be 

unfortunate news for chocolate 

connoisseurs living in the Capital, but 

for those living elsewhere, it offers the 

exciting – if distant – prospect of Paul 

A. Young’s incredible creations 

finding a wider audience. 

Steven Pierce is a food writer 

and can be contacted via 

www.stevensfoodieadventures. 

blogspot.com or 

www.facebook.com/adventure 

sofafoodie and 

www.twitter.com/#!/AoaFoodie 


opinion 

Going 

Against 

Most well-known British chocolatiers 

are firstly male and secondly situated 

in London. Shelly Preston, owner of 

Boutique Aromatique discusses 

how she is breaking conventions 

The capital has been quick 

to recognise the beauty of 

a fine chocolaterie. 

Chocolate savvy 

department stores such as Fortnum 

& Mason and Selfridges are hot on 

the heels of new chocolate talent 

and house some of the finest niche 

brands from around the world. 

Boutique hotels are also fast 

recognising the merits of fine 

chocolate and are beginning to 

present their guests with pillow gifts 

of ‘the real thing’. But what about 

outside of London? What is the real 

thing and where can we buy it in the 

East Midlands? The sad truth is, 

barely anywhere and certainly not on 

most high streets. But, this attitude 

has started to change, with 

chocolatiers such as Shelly Preston 

making an appearance in retail. 

Setting up shop in July 2011, 

Shelly currently owns a chocolate 

boutique which adjoins the Welbeck 

Farm Shop. The store is in an 

award-winning, contemporary/rustic, 

glass-fronted building on one of 

Britain’s finest family owned estates 

(Welbeck in Nottinghamshire). Here 

the Grain 

Shelly comments on her latest 

venture. “The decision to make our 

first foray into retail in a rural location 

was a very easy one. North 

Nottinghamshire is in my bones. I 

was born and raised here and now 

live just ten minutes away from 

Welbeck. And, although I hadn’t 

lived in the area for nearly 20 years, 

most of my family still do so I have 

natural affinity and easy rapport with 

local people.” 

Distinct training 

Shelly was privately trained with one 

of the current UK’s chocolate 

masters, ‘John Costello’ and 

subsequently qualified with distinction 

as a patissier. Shelly immersed 

herself in the technicalities and 

nuances of working with chocolate in 

her beloved, purpose built chocolate 

lab and sought out the finest food 

ingredients and oils that have always 

inspired her until she was finally ready 

to launch her own chocolate 

collection. “Over the years I learned 

to identify good chocolate from bad, 

the beauty from the beast and 

acquired the skill essential to match 

favour with flavour,” she says. 

After many happy years and 

successes in London and spurredon 

by a move back to her home 

county of Nottinghamshire, the time 

felt right to turn her growing passion 

for chocolate into reality. Shelly began 

her chocolate career running a 

monthly stall at a successful spring 

market in Welbeck Estate, but due to 

popular demand it was soon 

migrated to bi-weekly. After realising 

where her strengths lie, Shelly 

decided to set up shop at Welbeck; 

she describes the location. 

“We share a walled courtyard 

with an art gallery and café – both 

housed in impressive, converted 

original stone buildings – so it was 

important to us that whilst we set 

ourselves apart we also struck a 

careful balance between old and 

new. We kept the warmth and 

rusticity of the bare brick, stone walls 

and terracotta floors which are a 

distinctive feature of the farm shop 

and merged our style within. 

“Boutique Aromatique branding 

has a slight vintage feel but I had to 

resist the temptation of making the 

nostalgic references too obvious. The 

resulting backdrop of sleek, white 

fittings with duck egg blue quarry 

tiled counters provides an elegance 

and freshness. It allows me to add 

fresh floral displays and the vintage 

elements I love such as art deco wall 

vases, sandwich plates and 

traditional weighing scales – without 

it looking too cutesy. Contrasted with 

warm woods, corian signage and 

modern, acrylic point of sale we 

seem to have found the right mix of 

materials which reflects our brand 

and also rubs along quite nicely with 

the farm shop,” she says. 

Shelly comments on how she 

wanted to make her designs stand 

out from the traditional way 


chocolate shops are presented. “The 

overwhelming majority of my 

chocolate heros and inspirations are 

male and it shows in their 

presentation and branding which is 

so often brown/black, dark and 

mysterious in some way. The idea of 

chocolate as a secret society does 

not appeal to me at all and actually, 

demystifying chocolate and breaking 

down some of the pretensions to my 

customers is important. I want 

lightness, colour, openness, 

modernity and beauty to carry 

through everything we do. 

“Also, I wasn’t afraid of Boutique 

Aromatique having an overtly 

feminine appeal. That is not to say I 

am ignoring men. Men are incredibly 

passionate about ‘real’ chocolate 

and actually, I find them much more 

experimental and open to new 

flavours than women, but female 

shoppers still account for the majority 

of chocolate sales.” With a 

background working as a product 

developer in the independent beauty 

and well-being industry, Shelley 

believes she has a greater 

understanding of women’s 

psychology than men. “The industry I 

previously worked in gave me direct 

access to many women who 

appreciate a little luxury – whether it 

be buying an artisan perfume or 

shopping in great apothecaries and 

beauty halls. I therefore felt a 

responsibility to create a pleasant 

environment and in-store experience 

for them,” says Shelly. 

Delivering a 

unique service 

As well as creating an inviting 

atmosphere exteriorly in her shop, 

Shelly further comments on how 

she delivers great customer service. 

“I am at the boutique most days, 

either serving or working in my 

prep/finishing space at the farm 

shop so I’m usually around to speak 

to customers. Approachable, 

honest and enthusiastic would best 

“The idea of chocolate as a secret society 

does not appeal to me at all and actually, 

demystifying chocolate and breaking 

down some of the pretensions to my 

customers is important” 

describe our attitude to service. 

Customers ask all kinds of 

questions from what to drink with a 

particular chocolate to how to make 

a good sweet paste and I’m always 

happy to share my knowledge. 

“In keeping with slaying 

chocolate pretences I will very often 

temper the complexity of a flavour in 

order for it to not appear alien. 

Describing my Yuzu, Tangerine, Pink 

Grapefruit and Pimento Berry flavour 

as a classic ‘citrus and spice’ 

combination with an almost 

Christmassy feel is a classic example 

of how we communicate. This is in 

no way meant to dumb-down or 

patronise, merely to create a space 

of familiarity in which the customer is 

happy to venture. For any budding 

chocolatier or burgeoning 

connoisseur, recommending the right 

book at the correct stage in their 

opinion 

journey can change everything for 

them and I personally find that very 

satisfying,” she says. 

To introduce more customers to 

the world of chocolate Shelly believes 

shoppers should be given as much 

as knowledge as possible. “I want 

my customers to have a greater 

understanding about the chocolate 

we use in our recipes and I have 

found that retailing branded bars 

from my suppliers works incredibly 

well. The connection between what I 

do and what the producer does 

becomes tangible.” As well as 

offering fresh chocolates and 


opinion 

patisserie, the chocolatier also makes 

her own hot chocolate and 

marshmallow and pate du fruits 

confections, which are all very 

popular. The books and luxury larder 

ingredients also service the baking 

enthusiast well, while the gourmet 

popcorn ‘adds a little bit of fun’ to 

the shop’s offer. 

By fulfilling customers’ needs 

and getting to know the clientèle 

in a relatively short space of time, 

Shelly has acquired a fair amount 

of regulars which have warranted 

her success so far. “At first, the 

thought of opening my first 

boutique on the high street 

terrified me. Relying on passing 

trade is tough and can be soul 

destroying. It can take years to 

build up your regular flow of 

customers so there is no doubt 

that the prospect of an almost 

guaranteed customer footfall 

coming into the farm shop was an 

enormously attractive prospect for 

my fledgling business. Also, the 

old adage ‘stick to what you 

know’ never felt more relevant. I 

understand my local customer, 

how they live and where they 

come from and that knowledge 

has played a huge part in the early 

success of Boutique Aromatique. 

In addition, Welbeck is a fantastic 

place to visit so we have the 

fortune of capitalising on a steady 

tourist trade. It works for us.” 

Leading, not following 

In terms of future trends, what does 

Shelly think is popular at the moment 

and what does she predict for the 

future? “I spent 12 years living in the 

capital so I can speak with some 

authority that trends are much more 

geographically and demographically 

lead than trendsetters would have us 

believe. Regardless of the glut of 

food journalism and TV cookery 

programmes, ideas and concepts 

don’t always resonate with the 

average person. I’m a big believer in 

not following trends. 

“It’s fair to say that the race for 

salted caramels will run and 

run..particularly outside of the capital 

as it’s still a novel concept; in the 

Midlands anyway. I certainly agree 

with Sara Jayne Stanes that not 

enough of us (chocolatiers) are 

creating collections of plain, individual 

chocolates and truffles. I’m as guilty as 

the next for conjuring-up multi-layered 

flavours whilst ignoring the beauty of 

plain chococolate which, as we know, 

when excellently cultivated and cared 

for bursts and pops with flavours all 

on its own. I’d therefore like to see a 

growing trend for celebrating the ‘not 

so plain’ chocolate...wouldn’t you?” 

concludes Shelly. 

For more information about 

the new shop please see 

www.boutiquearomatique.com 

or call 01623 812 532. 


Royalty 

Chocolate 

Cyprus may not be renowned for its 

chocolate, but one tiny retailer is 

creating a storm with its unusual 

confection – made using local royal jelly 

From goji berries to green tea, 

so-called ‘superfoods’ have 

dominated the health pages 

of magazines and 

newspapers for years. Confectionery 

companies have also taken 

advantage of the trend, combining 

dried fruits, seeds and even speciality 

teas with chocolate to create 

sweets that appeal to more health 

conscious consumers. 

Cyprus Chocolate, a small 

chocolate retailer and producer, has 

been creating its own variety of 

‘health-giving’ confectionary – called 

Flava Chocolates, made using 

locally-sourced royal jelly – for over a 

decade. Owners Praxi and John 

Adams had a successful hospitality 

business in London, but decided to 

move back to Cyprus (Praxi’s 

homeland) to enjoy their retirement. 

However, this was short-lived when 

John – a trained chocolatier – 

stumbled upon a new and exciting 

way to make chocolate. “Fresh isn’t 

readily available in Cyprus, so making 

a truffle or ganache filling without it is 

quite difficult,” starts Praxi. “However, 

condensed milk is incredibly popular 

here and John struck upon the idea 

of combining it with cocoa. He called 

it ‘Cypriot ganache’ and this simple 

recipe is now used all over the island 

and worldwide.” 

Historic superfoods 

The addition of royal jelly was actually 

inspired by a centuries-old local 

tradition. “Eating royal jelly as a health 

supplement may be quite a new idea 

in the UK, but Cypriot people have 

been doing it for a very long time. 

According to many of the older men 

in our village, it is a natural 

aphrodisiac!” she laughs. While 

research into the health benefits of 

the ingredient is only in its early 

stages, early findings reveal 

numerous helpful qualities. 

It is a very rich source of 

proteins and contains 

essential amino acids, 

important fatty acids, sugars, 

vitamins and minerals, and 

has also been found to have 

cholesterol-lowering, antiinflammatory, 

wound-healing, 

and antibiotic effects on humans. 

“Royal jelly is a bit like very thick honey 

in texture; it’s an amazing ingredient 

and is packed with natural goodness. 

Queen bees live exclusively on the jelly 

and it accounts for their incredible 

longevity. Amazingly they live 40 times 

longer than worker bees – seven 

years as opposed to seven weeks,” 

says Praxi. 

The health benefits may be 

appealing, but indulgent chocolates 

will only sell if they taste delicious. 

“Royal jelly itself tastes of very little 

and we only add a tiny amount to 

each single chocolate; just enough 

to fit on the end of a cocktail stick.” 

Each chocolate retails for around €2, 

but the store’s customers certainly 

believe they’re worth it. “We have so 

many regulars who rave about the 

health benefits of the sweets. One 

lady who lives locally swears by 

having one every day! Chocolate 

itself releases endorphins in the same 

way as chilli peppers – it’s like a 

natural anti-depressant – but the 

addition of royal jelly makes it even 

more luxurious.” 

Using locally-sourced fare is a 

priority for Praxi and John; the royal 

jelly is sourced from local beekeepers 

and the other ingredients used to 

make the different varieties of 

chocolate are indigenous to Cyprus. 

The company uses specialities such 

as black cherries, Cypriot wine, 

preserved oranges and Zivania, a 

local spirit made from grapes, to fill 

thick chocolate cups, made from 

single origin South American cacao 

beans. “Modern British consumers 

are increasingly looking for delicious 

chocolate that is also good for you, 

and this is exactly what we do,” 

adds Mrs Adams. 

An iconic French luxury food brand, 

Fauchon, is soon to be available in 

the UK and Eire via exclusive 

distributor Coles Trading 

profile 

Specialities 

fromFrance 

Founded in Paris by 

Auguste Fauchon in 

1886, Fauchon is a 

longstanding symbol 

of French gastronomic 

excellence. Building on its 

original commitment to quality 

and exclusiveness Fauchon 

has, in recent years, gained a 

reputation for innovation and has 

reinvented itself as one of the 

leading forces in contemporary 

French culinary culture. 

The expertise, passion and 

audacious creativity of the chefs at 

Fauchon’s bakery, patisserie and 

delicatessen in Place de la 

Madeleine are internationally 

renowned. 

These culinary 

specialists 

work with 

the best 

growers, traditional 

French craftsmen and the very 

finest ingredients to create an 

extensive Fauchon range of 

packaged sweet and savoury 

products for sale all over the world. 

Over 200 items from the range 

will be available in the UK and Eire 

from October 2011 including 

flavoured teas and coffee; spices & 

condiments; parfums de sauce: fruit 

flavoured oils and vinegars; fruit 

preserves, honeys, biscuits and 

champagne. The finest quality, 

flavour and originality permeate the 

whole selection. 

But, it is the exceptional range 

of confectionery which is the 

flagship for the Fauchon brand. 

All products within this 

assortment are 

exquisitely packaged 

and include milk 

and dark chocolate 

bars, truffles, 

pralinés, nougats, 

caramels, fruit jellies, 

calissons and 

marrons glacés. 

The numbered series 

(No.1 to No. 6) of chocolate 

mini bars, tablets and cubes 

provides a perfect self-treat or an 

informal, everyday gift. Mendiants – 

a traditional speciality with dried fruit 

and nuts – are a real highlight. And, 

the selection of giftboxes, including 

several heart-shaped tins, are 

perfect for special occasions such 

as Christmas and Valentine’s Day. 

Commenting on Fauchon’s 

launch at the recent Speciality 

Chocolate Fair at London’s Olympia, 

Tim Coles, managing director of 

Coles Trading said, “I am absolutely 

delighted with the 

quality of the contacts 

made and we are now 

looking forward to 

partnering with fine 

food retailers to 

establish the Fauchon 

brand and develop it 

to its full potential.” 

Fauchon is the first 

of a number of 

fine French and 

Italian brands which 

will form the 

Coles Trading 

product 

portfolio over the 

coming months. 


asian sweets 

Eastern 

Delights 

Big retail chains such as Thorntons are 

creating chocolate boxes specially for 

Eid and Diwali; but what can smaller 

confectioners do to meet the demand? 

Louise investigates Indian sweets 

Entering an Indian sweet 

house is a breath-taking 

experience. Imagine bold 

colours, swirling patterns 

and eye-catching designs all coated 

in a haze of sugar, and, there you 

have a taste of Indian confectionery. 

In this part of the world, 

confectionery is made with visual 

appeal very much at its crux. Of 

course flavour matters, but 

essentially its main purpose is to 

stand out at parties, weddings and, 

of course religious celebrations such 

as Diwali. It is true that an alluring 

display of sweets is what makes 

one occasion distinct from another, 

and according to food writer and 

cookery teacher Monisha 

Bharadwa, “There are no specific 

dishes you eat in Diwali but you 

must eat sweets, at the end of the 

occasion you should be completely 

sweeted-out.” 

Special occasions 

As with many British celebrations, 

food forms a big part of the event. 

And, Diwali is no acceptance with 

sweets and festivities going hand-inhand. 

Indeed, this colourful 

confectionery calls for a celebration, 

and many Indian sweet shops 

(mithai makers) throughout the UK 

rejoice when the calender turns to 

the busy months of October and 

November. “We have people lining 

up on the sidewalk and waiting on 

the curb,” said Anum Butt, whose 

family owns Al-Karam Sweets and 

whose father is a third-generation 

mithai maker from Pakistan. “It’s 

such an exciting feel,” she says. 

Many specialist stores 

celebrate the ‘Festival of Light’ by 

decorating their shops, wearing 

traditional attire and even 

introducing ‘limited edition’ 

varieties. Having been open since 

1978 and employing a team of over 

50 staff members, Mr Ismail, 

manager of Sweetmart in Bristol, 

knows a thing or two about about 

turning a profit from sugared treats. 

And, he believes more Brits than 

ever are opting for eastern 

confections. “The market for Indian 

sweets is definitely getting more 

popular. We have been agents for 

Royal Sweets (the biggest Indian 

sweet manufacturer in the UK) 

for 30 years now and we have 

certainly noticed an increase in 

demand – particularly from White 

English consumers. 

“I travel the world quite a lot and 

believe that British consumers are 

the most open-minded, and are 

more willing to try new things. In 

countries like America, and even the 

rest of Europe shoppers are less 

likely to be experimental,” he says. 

It seems the nation’s broad-minded 

attitude has led to customers 

actually demanding a bigger range 

and more variety in this store. Mr 

Ismail comments, “We wouldn’t 

have called our shop ‘Sweetmart’ if 

it wasn’t doing well – instead exotic 

fruits and spices would’ve been our 

focus. The name Sweetmart sums 

up our main business really.” 

Being an expert in the field, this 

speciality shopkeeper recommends 

that retailers who are new to Indian 

sweets should stock an interesting 

collection of barfi. Made from 

condensed milk, barfi is available in 

several different flavours, including 

pineapple, pistachio, chocolate and 

even ice cream! Made with double 

cream, sugar and milk power, “It is 

more like your Devon fudge!” laughs 

Mr Ismail. 

A well-organised counter 

should also include the Indian 

classic, jalebi; which is a deep-fried 

batter tube that is made with saffron 

and sugar. The orange treat is a 

winner with customers from Indian, 

Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, 

but is also proving popular with 

intriguing Brits too. “It has caught on 

very well, and more shoppers are 

starting to buy something different 

for traditional events such as 

Christmas.” Another key line that is 

attracting attention is rassomalai 

which is a round candy that 

combines Indian cottage cheese 

and sugar syrup. Many Indian 

stores also sell Havla which can be 

KEY BENEFITS OF GOING EAST 

Many Indian sweets are vegetarian friendly 

because they contain no gelatine. This is an 

option worth exploring when targeting both 

veggie and vegan customers. 

■ Some British consumers are looking for alternative dessert 

options for events such as birthdays and Christmas, and 

Indian desserts could fit the bill. 

■ Stocking Indian sweets means that events such as Diwali 

and Eid can be celebrated, and it may also attract fresh 

custom in-store. 

■ Displays of Indian sweets are visually attractive and will 

hopefully brighten up your shop. 

■ A collection of sweets can be sold to accompany Indian 

meal deals. Most consumers are interested in Indian 

savoury dishes, give them the chance to uncover the 

sweeter side of this cuisine. 

■ Recipe cards can be given out so customers can make 

Indian sweets at home 


asian sweets 

“A favourite Indian 

expression is ‘muh 

meetha karo’ and 

it means ‘sweeten 

your mouth’” 

either flour-based or nut butterbased. 

It is flavoured with fruits such 

as figs and is popular when paired 

with middle eastern cuisine. In his 

article, ‘Sweetness and Light’, 

Adam Edwards at the Telegraph 

newspaper described the sweet as 

the ‘Mr Kipling cake of India’. 

Point of difference 

Traditional sweets such as these 

are all prepared in an authentic 

way, and despite national chains 

such as Thorntons trying to enjoy 

profitability of religious festival by 

introducing ‘special collections’; 

Mr Ismail is not convinced of their 

involvement. “Supermarkets and 

shops like Thorntons have trashed 

on Indian sweets by not stocking 

fresh lines that are specially made, 

and chilled. Authentic lines are 

refrigerated to ensure the sweets 

are still unprocessed and moist, 

this is much better than being left 

out in the ambient temperature. I 

also believe the packaging is much 

nicer when you buy from an 

independent store.” This 

passionate shopkeeper is 

convinced that the whole 

retail experience is completely 

different when buying from a 

specialist store. 

“When consumers travel the 

world and try new foods they want 

the same experience when they 

come back. They don’t want 

packaged goods which have no 

authentic flavour. A lot of chains tend 

to put products in boxes, whereas 

we offer items loose so customers 

can pick and choose what they 

need,” says Mr Ismail. He also 

believes his knowledgeable staff are 

an asset when dealing with 

customers that have allergies. The 

specialist team is able to assist 

shoppers better. “We can identify 

which products have traces of nuts 

or dairy straight away.” This helped 

shoppers massively when the ‘mad 

cow’ disease broke out because 

Indian sweets do not contain 

gelatine, many customers were 

happy to stock up on vegetarian 

friendly options. 

This attention to detail has 

meant that a specialist store such as 

Sweetmart has garnered a point of 

difference from the supermarkets. 

“The biggest advantage we have is 

we are still a family-run business and 

my father is actually a historic figure 

in Bristol. He started something new 

in the town and it is still popular 

today,” concludes Mr Ismail. 


stevia 

& 

Sweetness 

Light 

Historically, the words 

‘healthy’ and 

‘chocolate’ have rarely 

sat well together in the 

same paragraph, let 

alone the same 

sentence. Raw cocoa in 

its most natural form 

has many health 

benefits; it is high in 

antioxidants, it contains 

vitamins and essential 

nutrients and can help 

prevent heart and 

vascular diseases. 

However, once the 

cocoa is processed into 

a chocolate bar, the real 

health benefits are often 

reduced because the 

inclusions of other 

ingredients, such as 

sugar and sweeteners can be bad 

for you when eaten excessively or 

as part of an unbalanced diet. 

Modern eating patterns have 

meant that we now all eat too 

much sugar. Every year we 

consume on average over 40kg 

per person, which equates to 

about 130g sugar per day. The 

World Health Organisation 

recommends a daily amount of 

20-50g of sugar per day so we all 

consume well over double that 

amount! Excess sugar in our diet 

is a major contributing factor in 

many modern day diseases; 

cancer, obesity, diabetes and 

possibly Alzheimer’s. 

So what is the answer? A 

balanced diet and exercise goes a 

long way to keep us all healthy but 

sweet things appeal to all of us 

and why should we stop eating 

what we love? In the case of 

chocolate, for many years the only 

real way has been to choose high 

quality bars with a high cocoa 

content meaning that 

only a minimal amount 

of other ingredients 

have been added. 

Many chocolatiers 

have tried to remove 

sugar from their 

ingredients list and tried 

to replace it with 

sweeteners, such as 

maltitol or sorbitol, as 

they contain fewer 

calories per gram and 

so are perceived to be 

better for you. However, 

these replacements are 

man-made and as such 

have unfortunate side 

effects, such as laxative effects 

when consumed in reasonable 

quantities. They also don’t always 

taste as nice as natural sugars so 

consumer demand has deemed 

healthy and chocolate should 

continue to remain apart… 

Until now… 

Stevia, or Stevia Rebaudiana 

Bertoni to give it its full name, is a 

small green plant, originates from 

the borderland between Paraguay 

and Brazil. The small leaves 

contain stevioside, a potent 

sweetener which is 300 times 

sweeter than ordinary sugar. The 

plant also contains rebaudioside 

A, which is even sweeter than 

stevioside and with a less 

bitter aftertaste. 

Stevia has been used for 

centuries as a natural sweetener in 

Can chocolate ever be healthy? Peter 

Martin MD of the House of Sarunds 

discovers the latest ingredient that is 

helping to keep confectionery 

delicious, but also nutritious 

countries in the Far East and the 

Central Americas. In Japan Stevia 

is used in soft and fizzy drinks as a 

healthy alternative to aspartame, 

(an artificial sweetener). So why isn’t 

Stevia well known in Europe? Due 

to the emergence of many cheaper 

sugar and synthetic sweeteners, 

coupled with economic and market 

pressures, the European, 

‘want it now and want it 

cheap’ culture has meant 

Stevia has remained a 

well-kept secret. 

So what is so good 

about Stevia? Stevia is a 

natural ingredient that 

contains zero calories per 

gram so adds nothing to 

your sugar intake but 

helps to give chocolate 

that sweeter taste. 

Cavalier chocolate also 

contains over twice the 

amount of fibre than 

sugar or sweeteners, 

which as we all know is 

important in digestion, as well 

as higher levels of vitamin E, 

magnesium, zinc and iron, again 

all important in keeping your 

body healthy. 

Cavalier chocolatiers have 

pioneered the use of Stevia in 

chocolate and its master 

chocolatiers, dieticians and food 

engineers have created a 100% 

natural sweetener that is high in 

antioxidants, offers a low glycemic 

index, has a unique and delicious 

taste, contains fibres, vitamin E, 

magnesium, zinc and 

iron, features no trans 

fats and is gluten-free. 

By using Stevia in 

chocolate the full 

flavour of the cocoa is 

unmistakable. The 

natural antioxidants, 

minerals, essential fatty 

acids and fibre have 

created something that 

has never happened 

before, not only do 

you have the choice 

to eat chocolate as 

part of a balanced diet, 

you can now use the 

words healthy and 

chocolate next to each other in 

the same sentence. 

Cavalier chocolates and all 

Cavalier products are only 

available from House of Sarunds. 


Highest Brand Awareness Strongest Customer Loyalty Biggest Retail Profi ts 

Top Quality Greatest Variety Best Taste Real Sales Real Profi ts Real Result 

 

 

 

50 

www.jellybelly-uk.com 

For the very sweetest UK sales fi gures call Best Imports on 01727 829 010 and fi nd out for yourself what all the fuss is about. 

® Reg. TM’s of Jelly Belly Candy Company and © 2010 Jelly Belly Candy Company. All rights reserved.

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